Miniature pound cakes made with coconut flour, poppyseeds and copius amounts of citrus zest then topped with a Labneh (strained Greek Yoghurt) frosting swirled with an Orange Blossom & Star Anise syrup and finished with candied Orange slices. Rave reviews from friends, neighbors and my trusted recipe tester friend Minna (talented home chef from Espoo, Finland). Hope you give these a go!

*make sure to check out the notes below

Ingredients (makes 6)

Dry Ingredients

67g Plain Flour or All purpose Flour (use Gold Medal brand or any low protein% type)

50g Coconut Flour (substitute with Almond Flour or Plain Flour)

Heaping 1/4tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp fFine Sea Salt

15g Poppy Seeds

Wet Ingredients

117g Salted Butter, softened at room temperature

80g Granulated Sugar

37g Demerara Sugar (substitute with Coconut Sugar or Light Brown Sugar)

Zest of One Lemon - about 2 tbsp

Zest of One Orange - about 3 tbsp

1 tsp Orange Blossom Water (sub Vanilla)

2 large Eggs, beaten (100g)

Syrup

Juice of 1 Large Lemon (~ 10g)

Juice of 1 Orange (~ 90g)

75g Maple Syrup

2 tsp Orange Blossom Water (reduce to taste)

2 tbsp water

2 whole star anise, ground (optional, but recommended)

Frosting (makes extra)

200g Labneh, chilled

20g Double Cream or Heavy Whipping Cream, chilled

1 tsp Citrus Zest

4 tbsp Syrup, reserved

1/2 tsp Orange Blossom Water (optional)

3 candied Orange Discs, quartered

Directions

🍰 Pre-heat oven to 365F or 180C. Grease a set of 6 cupcake/muffin mold (I prefer silicone but regular metal is just fine). Now in a saucepan combine all syrup ingredients and bring to boil. Add candied orange pieces and simmer until it’s runny syrup like consistency (Should be reduced to half by weight). Transfer candied orange pieces on to a cooling rack and reserve 4 tbsp of syrup for frosting & keep the rest for serving

🍰 Whisk all frosting ingredients until well combined, smooth & glossy (I aim for soft-medium peaks). Refrigerate until ready to frost

🍰 Sift and combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl; keep it aside. Cream butter, sugar and zest until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and orange blossom then whisk for 3 mins or until combined (even if it looks a bit split that’s okay)

🍰 Fold in dry ingredients & mix until no dry floury spots. Divide and transfer the batter into greased molds, bake for 25 mins or until test skewer comes out clean. Once cooled, turn them out upside down. Slice off the domed bit of wider side so that it’s flat

🍰 Spoon generous blobs of frosting on the narrow side of each cake. Or for a fancier look, pipe the frosting on the wider side - like this. Then finish with a couple candied orange slices on top & drizzle the remaining syrup all over

*Notes:

You can use Gluten Free flour instead of Plain Flour to keep it Gluten free. I use Bob’s Red Mill Brand
If you’re skeptical about orange blossom, then just use vanilla extract or almond/orange extract. With Almond extract and Almond Flour, I bet these would turn into somthing quite special
In the batter you can use just orange or lemon zest instead of both
To convert these into cupcakes - poke holes into warm cakes & pour the cooled syrup right away. Pipe frosting with a slice of candied orange on top. Just make sure the cakes are hot & the syrup is cold while pouring
If left with extra frosting , then I highly recommend smearing on toast and top with fresh fruit

Recipes

Labneh Frosted Coconut Poppyseed Mini Cakes